Guard Your Heart

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 

Think about that verse for a minute. Everything you do flows from the heart. Your attitude, your thoughts, your actions and especially your words. It all comes from what’s in your heart. Imagine filling up a glass so it overflows, the overflow will be whatever you’ve put into the glass. If you put root beer in the glass then milk won’t come out, root beer will. By the same token what you put into your heart will be what comes out.

If all you’re putting in cynicism from your friends, curse words from movies and complaining from your co-workers then cynicism, curses and complaining is going to be what come out. On the other hand if you’re balancing the complaining from co-workers with encouragement and uplifting attitudes from your friends, and wisdom from Scripture, combined with worship at church then it will be far easier to block the complaining from entering your heart and making sure that the encouragement is what’s coming out.

So step one to applying this verse is to guard your heart. Be careful who you’re surrounding yourself with, what you’re looking to for entertainment, whose advice you’re taking and even what people you’re allowing to speak wisdom into your life.

See friends someone can be very wise and have great advice but if all of their advice is tainted with criticism it might be best not to let them get too close. You shouldn’t ignore their advice completely though, after all it’s good advice. So what do you do? Well, you can take what they say, decide what you want to keep (i.e. the advice) and throw the rest (the attitude) away! Get rid of it before it has a chance to sink too deeply into your heart and become part of the river flowing out into your life.

Step two is to watch your outflow. Of course the first step to this is to watch what you take in but sometimes bad things filter through our guards. So before you open your mouth to speak, or start to take an action take a moment to think and pray about what you’re going to say or do. That way you’re controlling your outflow before you cause too much damage or regret.

Make an effort this week to remember Proverbs 4:23 and guard your heart.

Take a Time Out!

"Go to your room!"
"You need a time out!"
"Take a walk, you can come back when your attitude adjusts."

Do you remember hearing things like that when you were a kid? Or do you remember saying something like that to your kids? Maybe it's even been recently but how many times have you wished someone would say that to you?

I've been there more times then I care to count.

Life's been crazy lately. Sometimes I get so tired I just want to curl up in bed and sleep the day away but real life invades and I have customers to help or events to plan, appointments to keep and people that I need to talk to. Being polite when I'm tired, hungry, run down, exhausted or all of the above isn't always easy.

So what do you do?

You make an executive decision to give yourself an adult time out!

This isn't being selfish or spoiled or anything else. It's actually the opposite. Giving yourself a break assures that you have the physical, mental and emotional energy to take care of your family, friends and mark things off your checklist!

Next time you're feeling overwhelmed, give yourself an adult time out. You don't need to feel guilty about it, you need to remember that taking care of yourself is the first step in taking care of everyone else.

Mojo

I was talking with a friend of mine when she said "I think accomplishing X has given me my mojo back! I've gotten this, this and that done!" Okay that's not exactly what she said but it's the right idea.

Have you ever been in a slump? You feel like you can't quite break out of that rut you've fallen into? Things just aren't going right and you keep trying but you just can't quite figure out how to set things back right? Trust me, we've all been there! When you get to that point there's a few things you should try to remember-

1. You are not alone!

     -Everyone, and I do mean everyone, goes through this at some point or another. I have never met a person who hasn't had these moments. (And if you're reading this and you've never had this kind of thing happen than it's probably going to happen sooner rather than later. Sorry friend, it's a part of life.) This kind of feeling is normal so don't let yourself think that there's something wrong with you or that you're the only one in the world who this happens to. That's a lie from Satan, don't believe him!

2. Stop trying to solve all your big problems right away!

     -So often what happens to either cause or exasperate this problem is when you're trying so hard to solve all of your big problems so when little ones come up it overwhelms you and you can't handle anything. Take a deep breath, prioritize your problems and maybe even make a list to decide what needs to be done first but let me just give you a head's up here, the fastest way to get things done is one step at a time. Otherwise you'll be running around like crazy and at the end of the day you won't feel accomplished because you've only done bits and pieces of lots of different things but haven't finished anything! That only adds to the frustration, it doesn't solve it. 

3. Accomplish a small task.

     -One of the things that I always thinks helps when I'm in this mood is to accomplish some small tasks. Do the dishes. Fold and put away the laundry. Clean my desk. Vacuum the floor. Check the oil in my car. Get in a workout. Whatever it is completing that small task can often give you that sense of accomplishment you need to get you out of your funk!

4. Do something creative.

     -Now this isn't for everyone but it might be worth a shot. Do something creative, particularly something outside your comfort zone. (This advice came from a different friend a while back.) Change up your scenery! If you like to paint with oils, use watercolor, if you prefer to draw with charcoal, try colored pencils. Maybe you're a writer like me so if you write non-fiction try your hand at flash fiction instead or visa versa. Whatever it is just try being creative and mixing things up a bit.

5. Pray.

     -As always this is the best advice that I can give you no matter the situation. Pray about it. Ask friends to pray with you. Leave me a comment and I'll pray for you! But take your situation to the Lord, He'll always be the one you can turn to for help.

The Planner

Jeremiah 29:11
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Did you catch that? The Lord has plans for you but they're His plans, not ours! I love my plans, a little too much sometimes. Check out this next verse.

Psalm 94:11
"The Lord knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile."

See the difference? Human plans versus God's plans. His plans are perfect. Our plans are futile! So should you plan?

Well, I got a planner this week. It's from the company "The Happy Planner" and I love it! It helps me figure out what needs done. For example, it allows me to keep track of my writing goals. In July I've set a goal- I want to write X amount of words this month. So every time I write I make a note in my planner of my word count. At the end of the month I'll know how I did in comparison to my goal.

There's nothing wrong with planning. Nothing. But the flip side of that is that your days are not always going to go according to your plan. In fact I don't remember the last time I had an entire day go exactly according to plan. Life doesn't work that way!

You can plan, you can be structured. You just have to accept that sometimes those plans will go awry. And when that happens instead of getting frustrated try looking for the blessing. So often our "interrupted plans" are God's divine appointments.

A few days ago I worked late, it wasn't my plan, that's just how it happened. As I was driving home I came around the corner to see a doe and her two baby fawns in the road! Around the next stretch I saw four birds fly out of the woods and glide through the air! What beautiful sights of God's creation that lifted my heart! And yet if I hadn't worked late I wouldn't have seen them.

Sometimes His hand shows up in other ways, a "chance" meeting with an old friend, a conversation with the cashier at the grocery store or missing an accident because you were running late. Whatever it is learn to look at your interruption as His plan.

You can plan, you can make lists and structure. Just don't let your attitude get derailed if the day goes off the tracks.

4th of July

Picnics and rodeos, parades and fireworks. Parks, parties, pools and barbecues. Floating the river or going for a road trip. Camping or going to the racetrack.

It's the 4th of July! And it's a holiday to celebrate! We celebrate our freedom by going out and enjoying the day in all sorts of different ways, and what better way? We've been given, by the grace of God and the sacrifice of brave men and women throughout history, freedom. And it's something to be celebrated.

 We have the freedom to gather as we wish, say what we want, worship as we choose, wear whatever we want, protect ourselves, and on and on. Without these freedoms we wouldn't be the people we are, the nation we are, but these freedoms aren't free. They come at a great cost.

Recently my brother called with a heartwarming story about Ella, my five year old niece. They were at the mall and walking outside an Army recruiter's office when Ella walked up to the recruiter (who was standing outside) held out her hand and said "Thank you for your service."
Already her parents have begun to teach her to be thankful to those who fight for our freedom. This fourth of July she won't look at the fireworks and realize that they're a memorial, a yearly reminder of the fighting, bombs, and gunfire that took place during the revolutionary war as we fought for our independence. But they are.

I don't know the history of fireworks or why they were first created but I do know that they can serve as awesome reminder. A reminder of the fighting but also the celebration. Every time you celebrate your freedoms on the Fourth of July (or any day) you have a veteran to thank for it.

If you were given a great gift you wouldn't put it in a corner and ignore it, you'd play with it, use it, admire it and enjoy it. In America we've been given the gift of freedom. Enjoy it, appreciate it, and thank someone who served in the United States military for helping to defend it.

Have a safe and happy fourth of July this year!

And since Fourth of July is still a few days away I just have to add that for my family July 1st is also a yearly celebration, it's a super important day to us kids because it's the anniversary of the marriage of the best parents we could have ever asked for. 39 years ago today they said "I do" and committed themselves to each other before God and man, promising to make the Lord the center of their lives and marriage; it's an example they've taught to their own children and countless other people over the last 39 years and one that they keep living day in and day out. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I love you!